Indian Ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal met Taliban leader Sher Mohammed
Abbas Stanekzai on Tuesday. The Indian ambassador conveyed India’s concerns to
the Taliban and said that Afghanistan’s soil should not be used for anti-Indian
activities and terrorism, reports PTI.

Following the discussion, the Ministry of External Affairs said that the
focus of the conversation was on the safety, security and early return of
Indian nationals, especially Afghanistan’s minority communities, to India. The
meeting between Indian and Taliban representatives took place in Doha, Qatar.

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The Ministry of External Affairs said that the Taliban representative
assured the Indian ambassador that “these issues” will be positively addressed.

“Today, Ambassador of India to Qatar, Deepak Mittal, met Sher Mohammad
Abbas Stanekzai, the head of Taliban’s Political Office in Doha. The meeting
took place at the Embassy of India, Doha, on the request of the Taliban side,”
the MEA said in a statement.

According to a PTI report, this was the first publicly acknowledged communication
between India and the Taliban in at least over 20 years. External Affairs
Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that India had reached out to the
Taliban and is maintaining contact with all stakeholders in Afghanistan.

The meeting between the Indian ambassador and the Taliban representative
took place hours after the US completed the withdrawal of its troops from
Afghanistan, ending its 20-year-long military campaign in the country.

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The last American aircraft left the Kabul airport in the early hours of
Tuesday.

On Saturday, Sher Mohammed Abbas Stanekzai, Taliban’s representative in
Doha described India as an important country in the region and said that the Taliban
seeks to maintain Afghanistan’s trade, economic and political relations with it.

“We attach great importance to our trade, economic and political relations
with India and want to maintain that relation,” Stanekzai had said adding that
the Taliban seeks to keep air trade open in the region.